i took a road trip with my sisters kate and emma the week of june 10-15, 2012. i enjoyed every single moment and meal of this week, regardless of the food we consumed, and where it came from. (well, with the exception of tuba city.) this is my story.

6/10

i left on a sunday morning. i flew to chicago from los angeles with nothing in my belly but a nectarine, and a grapefruit in my purse. of course, when i got into chicago, it was discussed that we would have lunch.

by the by, i loved finding this place smack dab in the middle of america.

although we weren’t able to stop, i surely would have liked to have a libation here:

on the way to denver, we researched a few places for dinner, but again we were getting in past 9pm. thankfully, our cousin penny and her husband charlie, who were putting us up for the night, were gracious enough to make us dinner. honestly, it was so very wonderful to have a home cooked meal after being on the road for hours on end.

i had been here previously while working on the john mayer#roadtripmusicvideo, so i knew what was to be expected as far as the tuna melt. i didn’t get to taste the homemade pie on that trip, unfortunately i did on this one. fail. fail. fail. the crust tasted like something from a communion cracker i once had when i was eight, and the fruit was obviously from a can. blech.

obviously this trip was not about the food. it was so much more than that. when we reached los angeles we had all learned a few more things about each other: kate rules at off-road driving, and music education; emma makes high pitched noises whenever she sees a cute animal; and i think we can all agree…i am a huge food snob.

when i get together with my friend john i know at the very least we will talk about food, more than likely we will be eating food, and without a doubt, we will be critiquing food. today we met at father’s office in culver city.

now, i have had the burger once before, and enjoyed it, but i didn’t put much thought into the details. knowing john and i have enjoyed a few burgers together, and discussed good and bad points of all, i figured he would be the perfect person to help bring my thoughts into a concise review. right off the bat, we are both not a fan of the basket presentation, but that did not weigh in on our feelings about the burger itself.

the bun: i thought the french bread roll was a good compliment to the burger. since there wasn’t any sort of crisp toppings like raw onion, lettuce or tomato, i liked the slight crunchiness of the roll. john favors an actual bun.

the toppings: caramelized onions, bacon, gruyére, maytag blue, and arugula. the bacon was somewhat non-existent, there was just a bit too much arugula piled on, and i liked the combination of the two cheeses, but the star of this burger was the caramelized onions. they were reduced down into a compote with a sweetness that almost reminded me of a bbq sauce.

the meat: i ordered mine medium and it came medium. it had good flavor and a good balance of browned on the outside, as well as, pink and juicy on the inside.

the price tag at $12 seems a bit steep, especially since you have to order fries separately. all in all, it was a good burger, and i would order it again, but i might try other things on the menu next time.